UPDATE: Asos In Talks For High Street Pick-Up And Returns

9th Jun 2010 17:17

(Adds detail, analyst comment, Alliance Boot reaction) By Hannah Benjamin Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--Online fashion retailer Asos PLC (ASC.LN) Wednesday revealed it is in talks with several big-name high-street retailers about using their stores to operate a pick-up and returns service for its customers. The firm--whose core customers are fashion-savvy 16 to 34 year-old women looking to recreate catwalk styles for a fraction of the price--wouldn't say with which retailers it is in talks, but analysts speculate that it won't necessarily be teaming up with any clothing peers. One possibility could be a tie-up with U.K. health and beauty retailer Boots. Its parent company Alliance Boots PLC has made no secret of its desire to establish partnerships with other retailers. It has already agreed deals that will see parenting and children's products retailer Mothercare PLC (MTC.LN) supply a children's clothing range in Boots stores, while upmarket supermarket chain Waitrose will sell Boots ranges in its shops. Boots' Laboratories' skincare product range is also being distributed by Proctor & Gamble Co (PG) in Italy. An Alliance Boots spokesman told Dow Jones the company wouldn't comment on the speculation. Asos said in-store collects and returns could become a reality as early as next year. "What we're thinking is having a high-street capability to enable people to go in to stores and pick up stuff they've ordered on our website," Chief Executive Nick Robertson told journalists Wednesday. While refusing to name the retailers it is having talks with, Robertson said they have a "massive" presence on high streets across the U.K. Panmure Gordon retail analyst Jean Roche--who rates Asos "buy"--suggested that the partnership could be with a retailer like Debenhams PLC (DEBS.LN)--the U.K.'s second-largest department store--or Argos, which is owned by Home Retail Group PLC (HOME.LN). "The main emphasis is on making things more convenient for the customer and they'd no doubt be looking to win some new customers too," she said. "They're likely to have good relationships with some of the brands they sell but potentially it could even be a supermarket as in the U.S. this kind of thing can be done via supermarkets." Robertson said a more detailed update about the potential service will likely be available in several months' time as talks progress. He says the approach is the way forward for online retail and a way of ending the frustration of missed deliveries. The lion's share of Asos' sales are made through its womenswear brands, which include Lipsy, Karen Millen and Paul's Boutique. Earlier Wednesday, Asos announced a 44% rise in fiscal 2010, ended March 31, pretax profit to GBP20.3 million from GBP14 million a year earlier, as sales climbed to GBP223 million from GBP165 million, boosted by soaring overseas demand. -By Hannah Benjamin, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9298; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 09, 2010 12:17 ET (16:17 GMT)